Fear is running the show right now. If you've checked your portfolio lately and felt that drop in your stomach, you're not alone. The market is jittery, people are nervous, and every headline makes it feel like maybe you should sell everything and hide under a blanket.

Warren Buffett has six words for moments like this: "Be greedy when others are fearful."

Yeah I know. You've heard some version of that quote a hundred times. It's the investing equivalent of "drink water and get enough sleep." Obvious advice that everyone nods at and nobody actually follows when it matters.

But think about what it actually means right now. When the market drops, your instinct is to sell. When everyone around you is panicking your brain screams at you to do something, anything, to make the uncomfortable feeling stop. Buffett's whole point is that the discomfort is the opportunity. You don't get discounted prices when everyone feels good about stocks.

This MSN article lays out the current fear pretty well. And I get why people are spooked. Valuations are high, uncertainty is everywhere, there are real reasons to feel cautious.

But cautious and panicked are two very different things.

I'll tell you something I've been doing. Every single month I buy the same index funds on the same schedule. S&P 500, total market fund, same dollar amounts, same dates. When the market is up I buy. When it drops 5 percent I buy. When it drops 15 percent I buy (and maybe wince a little, but I still buy). Nothing about a scary headline changes the math on dollar-cost averaging.

Buffett's advice isn't about being reckless. It's about recognizing that the best prices come when sellers are desperate, and desperate sellers create opportunities for everyone else.

I'll probably argue with Warren Jeffries about this later. He'll say I'm being too cavalier about risk. I'll say he's being too cautious about opportunity. We're both probably right, which is annoying for both of us.

If you're sitting on cash and feeling afraid, that fear is probably a sign you should think about putting some of it to work. Not all at once. Not recklessly. But fear driving the market down means things are on sale, and sales don't last forever.

Just start. Buy a little. See how it feels. Then do it again next month.